It just got easier for Hamilton diners to tell which restaurants have run afoul of the city’s health regulations.

The city is beefing up its green card system by adding red and yellow cards that will give Hamilton diners an instant visual cue about the safety of their chosen restaurant.

Green cards will mean the restaurant is in compliance with the rules, yellow means there are some issues that need to be addressed and red means the restaurant has been shut down for violations.

Up until now, green cards were posted in entryways of the city’s eateries with the date and results of the most recent health inspection. However, if a restaurant failed an inspection, the green card was simply removed until the problems were remedied. It was reposted once a re-inspection verified any problems had been fixed.

The addition of yellow and red cards has been a long time coming, said Councillor Sam Merulla, who instigated the change along with Councillor Brad Clark.

“I originally initiated the grading system in ’02 based on the need to better communicate to the public the public health status of local restaurants,” Merulla said. “The three-colour code system is a clear and simple approach to grading a restaurant operation. Green is go, yellow is a caution and red is closed.”

The green card system was implemented in 2000 after a Spectator investigation revealed appalling conditions in some restaurants and a city that was failing to meet provincial standards for inspections.

The series led to Hamilton hiring more inspectors and, ultimately, developing the public rating system.

The city also posts the results of food safety inspections at foodsafetyzone.ca.